We use cookies to enhance your experience on our website. By continuing to use our website, you are agreeing to our use of cookies. You can change your cookie settings at any time.Find out moreJump to
Content

Daniel Freeman and Jason Freeman

Anxiety: A Very Short Introduction explains what anxiety is, why it is a normal and vital part of our emotional life, and the factors that cause it. Are we born with fears or ...
More

Anxiety: A Very Short Introduction explains what anxiety is, why it is a normal and vital part of our emotional life, and the factors that cause it. Are we born with fears or do we learn them? What purpose does anxiety serve? How can we treat anxiety disorders? What's happening in our brain when we feel fear? Insights are drawn from psychology, neuroscience, genetics, epidemiology, and clinical trials. The six main anxiety disorders are: phobias; panic disorder and agoraphobia; social anxiety; generalized anxiety disorder; obsessive-compulsive disorder; and post-traumatic stress disorder. The symptoms, prevalence, causes of each of these disorders, and the treatments for dealing with them, are covered.Less

Uta Frith

Autism: A Very Short Introduction asks: What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are ...
More

Autism: A Very Short Introduction asks: What causes autism? Is it a genetic disorder, or due to some unknown environmental hazard? Are we facing an autism epidemic? What are the main symptoms, and how does it relate to Asperger syndrome? It explores the relevance to autism of neuroscience, psychology, brain development, and genetics. Everyone has heard of autism, but the disorder itself is little understood. It has captured the public imagination through films and novels portraying individuals with baffling combinations of disability and extraordinary talent, and yet the reality is more often that it places a heavy burden on sufferers and their families.Less

Usha Goswami

Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction examines modern child psychology, tracing its development from birth up until early adolescence. Child Psychology studies the ...
More

Child Psychology: A Very Short Introduction examines modern child psychology, tracing its development from birth up until early adolescence. Child Psychology studies the process of attachment and ‘bonding’, and it considers how secure attachments will enable the child to progress in the development of self-understanding. The volume also considers an individual’s psychological development during the adolescent years. It poses and discusses a number of questions: how do babies and toddlers develop an understanding of the physical, biological, and social worlds that surrounds them? How do they develop complex abilities and senses such as language and morality? How specifically do children learn languages? How do they develop relationships with siblings and friends?Less

Susan Llewelyn and Katie Aafjes-van Doorn

Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental healthcare worldwide. Clinical Psychology: A Very Short Introduction provides insights into the world of clinical ...
More

Clinical psychology makes a significant contribution to mental healthcare worldwide. Clinical Psychology: A Very Short Introduction provides insights into the world of clinical psychologists and their clients or patients, and covers the range of domains of practice, difficulties tackled, and approaches and models used. It considers the challenges and controversies facing the profession today, and also how it varies across the globe. Finally, it discusses key questions surrounding clinical psychology, such as whether it should compete or collaborate with psychiatry; how far it is yet another instrument of social control; what new technology can offer in the future; and whether clinical psychology can ever really be considered a science.Less

Susan Blackmore

Consciousness is ‘the last great mystery for science’. How can a physical brain create our experience of the world? What creates our identity? Do we really have free will? Could ...
More

Consciousness is ‘the last great mystery for science’. How can a physical brain create our experience of the world? What creates our identity? Do we really have free will? Could consciousness itself be an illusion? Exciting new developments in brain science are continuing these debates, and the field has now expanded to include biologists, neuroscientists, psychologists, and philosophers. Consciousness: A Very Short Introduction clarifies the potentially confusing arguments, and the major theories, whilst also outlining the amazing pace of neuroscience discoveries. Covering areas such as construction of self in the brain, mechanisms of attention, neural correlates of consciousness, and physiology of altered states of consciousness, it highlights the latest findings.Less

Mary Jane Tacchi and Jan Scott

Covering melancholia, depression, manic depression, and bipolar disorder, Depression: A Very Short Introduction gives a brief account of the history of these concepts, before focusing on ...
More

Covering melancholia, depression, manic depression, and bipolar disorder, Depression: A Very Short Introduction gives a brief account of the history of these concepts, before focusing on the descriptions and understanding of depression and bipolar disorders today. It examines the symptoms and signs of clinical depression. It looks at the introduction of modern treatments for individuals with depression, recounting the stories behind the development of antidepressants and mood stabilizers. Exploring the importance of depression and bipolar disorder in society, it also looks at the link between mental health and economic prosperity and between creativity and mood disorders, and concludes by discussing future research and potential new treatments for those with depression.Less

J. Allan Hobson

Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction provides an increasingly complete picture of how dreaming is created by the brain. It explores how the new science of dreaming is affecting ...
More

Dreaming: A Very Short Introduction provides an increasingly complete picture of how dreaming is created by the brain. It explores how the new science of dreaming is affecting psychoanalysis theories and how it is helping our understanding of the causes of mental illness. Dreams are investigated to illustrate and explain some of the fascinating discoveries of modern sleep science, while challenging some of the traditionally accepted theories about dream meaning. How dreaming maintains and develops the mind, why we go crazy in our dreams in order to avoid doing so when we are awake, and why sleep is not just good for health, but essential for life is revealed.Less

Dylan Evans

Was love invented by European poets in the Middle Ages or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? ...
More

Was love invented by European poets in the Middle Ages or is it part of human nature? Will winning the lottery really make you happy? Is it possible to build robots that have feelings? Emotion: A Very Short Introduction explores the latest thinking about the emotions, drawing upon a wide range of scientific research, from anthropology and psychology to neuroscience and artificial intelligence. Anthropologists have begun to question their previous views on the cultural relativity of emotional experience; cognitive psychologists have abandoned their exclusive focus on reasoning, perception, and memory, and are rediscovering the importance of affective processes; and neuroscientists and researchers in artificial intelligence have also joined the debate.Less

David Canter

Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction discusses the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process. It includes explanations of criminal ...
More

Forensic Psychology: A Very Short Introduction discusses the aspects of psychology that are relevant to the legal and criminal process. It includes explanations of criminal behaviour and criminality, including the role of mental disorder in crime, and discusses how forensic psychology contributes to helping investigate the crime and catching the perpetrators. It also explains how psychologists provide guidance to those involved in civil and criminal court proceedings and what expert testimony can be provided by a psychologist about the offender at the trial. Finally, this VSI examines how forensic psychology is used, particularly in prisons, to help in the management, treatment and rehabilitation of offenders, once they have been convicted.Less

Anthony Storr

Freud: A Very Short Introduction discusses the life and work of Sigmund Freud. The founder of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only ...
More

Freud: A Very Short Introduction discusses the life and work of Sigmund Freud. The founder of psychoanalysis, Freud developed a totally new way of looking at human nature. Only now, with the hindsight of the half-century since his death, can we assess his true legacy to current thought. This VSI offers a lucid and objective look at Freud's major theories, evaluating whether they have stood the test of time. In the process it also examines Freud's family life, personal traits, and correspondence with contemporaries, assessing him in light of his own ideas.Less

Andrew Robinson

Homer, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy; Curie, Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, and Newton. What do these world-famous artists and scientists have in common? Most of us would ...
More

Homer, Leonardo da Vinci, Mozart, Shakespeare, and Tolstoy; Curie, Darwin, Einstein, Galileo, and Newton. What do these world-famous artists and scientists have in common? Most of us would probably say all ten possessed something we call genius, which in each instance permanently changed the way that humanity perceived the world. Genius: A Very Short Introduction uses the life and work of familiar geniuses, and some less familiar, to illuminate both the individual and the general aspects of genius. In particular: the roles of talent, heredity, parenting, education, training, hard work, intelligence, personality, mental illness, inspiration, eureka moments, and luck, in the making of genius.Less

Daniel M. Haybron

Happiness: A Very Short Introduction considers the true nature of happiness and the current thinking on the subject, from psychology to philosophy. What is happiness? Is it ...
More

Happiness: A Very Short Introduction considers the true nature of happiness and the current thinking on the subject, from psychology to philosophy. What is happiness? Is it subjective or can we put an objective value on it? How can and should we pursue happiness? Happiness is an everyday term in our lives, and most of us strive to be happy, but defining happiness can be difficult. There are many diverse routes to happiness. How much of our view on what constitutes happiness is influenced by secular Western ideas on the contemporary pursuit of a good life?Less

Ian J. Deary

Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction describes how and why people differ in their thinking power by dealing with issues such as what intelligence is, whether there are ...
More

Intelligence: A Very Short Introduction describes how and why people differ in their thinking power by dealing with issues such as what intelligence is, whether there are several different types of intelligence, and whether one person can be described as more ‘intelligent’ than another. The fact that the broad powers of human intelligence show differences has been recognized since antiquity. Our language is full of words that signify the possession or lack of an efficient brain. People value their powers of thinking. Are differences in intelligence caused by genes or the environment? Does intelligence decline or increase as we grow older? What is the biological basis of thinking?Less

Mark Haselgrove

What is learning? How does it take place? What happens when it goes wrong? The topic of learning has been central to the development of the science of psychology since its inception. ...
More

What is learning? How does it take place? What happens when it goes wrong? The topic of learning has been central to the development of the science of psychology since its inception. Without learning there can be no memory, no language, and no intelligence. Learning: A Very Short Introduction describes learning from the perspective of associative theories of classical and instrumental conditioning, and considers why these are the dominant, and best described analyses of learning in contemporary psychology. Tracing the origins of these theories, it discusses the techniques used to study learning in both animals and humans, and considers the importance of learning for animal behaviour and survival.Less

Jonathan K. Foster

Memory: A Very Short Introduction weaves together case-studies, anecdotes, literature and philosophy, and the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to address these ...
More

Memory: A Very Short Introduction weaves together case-studies, anecdotes, literature and philosophy, and the latest research in neuroscience and psychology to address these and many other important questions about the science of memory — how it works, and why we can't live without it. Memories are an integral part of being human, and they underpin our sense of who we are. Many people report being able to remember events from childhood as if they happened yesterday, but not what they did last week. Why does memory seem to work well sometimes and not others? Can memory be improved or manipulated by psychological techniques or even ‘brain implants’? How does memory grow and change as we age? And what of so-called ‘recovered’ memories?Less

Brian Rogers

Perception is concerned with how we use the information reaching our senses to guide and control our behaviour and create our particular, subjective experiences of the world. Perception: A ...
More

Perception is concerned with how we use the information reaching our senses to guide and control our behaviour and create our particular, subjective experiences of the world. Perception: A Very Short Introduction discusses the philosophical question of what it means to perceive, and describes how we are able to perceive the particular characteristics of objects and scenes such as their lightness, colour, form, depth, and motion. The study of illusions can be useful in telling us something about the nature and limitations of our perceptual processes. This VSI explores perception from an evolutionary perspective, explaining how evolutionary pressures have shaped the perceptual systems of humans and other animals.Less

Daniel Pick

Since its inception, psychoanalysis has been hailed as a revolutionary theory of how the mind works, and some of its ideas have inspired art, literature, and film, and become part of ...
More

Since its inception, psychoanalysis has been hailed as a revolutionary theory of how the mind works, and some of its ideas have inspired art, literature, and film, and become part of everyday conversation. Psychoanalysis: A Very Short Introduction offers a wide-ranging survey and offers insights into the therapeutic potential of the psychoanalytic method that Sigmund Freud pioneered. It shows how ideas about the unconscious have been applied, sets out various criticisms of the psychoanalytic procedure, and considers how both practice and theory have evolved since Freud. This VSI assesses the particular challenges now facing the psychoanalytic profession, and shows why psychoanalysis remains an important body of theory, a unique resource for investigating the mind and its many afflictions, and a powerful form of therapeutic treatment.Less

Gillian Butler and Freda McManus

Psychology: A Very Short Introduction explores some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance by looking at normal and abnormal behaviour, perception, ...
More

Psychology: A Very Short Introduction explores some of psychology's leading ideas and their practical relevance by looking at normal and abnormal behaviour, perception, attention, memory, and intelligence. Psychology is part of everyone's experience: it influences the way we think about everything from education and intelligence, to relationships and emotions, advertising and criminality. People readily behave as amateur psychologists, offering explanations for what we think, feel, and do. But what exactly are psychologists trying to do? What scientific grounding do they have for their approach? Advances in neuroscience and psychology — including evolutionary psychology and cognitive psychology — provide a greater understanding of the workings of the brain and human behaviour.Less

Elizabeth Hellmuth Margulis

There is a long tradition of thinking about music as a product of the human mind. Whether considering composition, performance, listening, or appreciation, the constraints and capabilities ...
More

There is a long tradition of thinking about music as a product of the human mind. Whether considering composition, performance, listening, or appreciation, the constraints and capabilities of the human mind play a formative role. The field that has emerged around this approach is known as the psychology of music. It seeks to answer fundamental questions of broad and enduring interest—questions like “What is musicality?” and “How does music move us?” The Psychology of Music: A Very Short Introduction explores how the psychology of music confronts these questions. It connects the science to larger humanistic questions about music that are of interest to practicing musicians, music therapists, musicologists, and the general public alike.Less

Tom Burns and Eva Burns-Lundgren
(ed.)

Psychotherapy: A Very Short Introduction traces the development of psychotherapy from its origins in Freud’s psychoanalysis to the range of different approaches—counselling, ...
More

Psychotherapy: A Very Short Introduction traces the development of psychotherapy from its origins in Freud’s psychoanalysis to the range of different approaches—counselling, cognitive behaviour therapy, other time-limited therapies, mindfulness, and group and family therapies. Describing the processes central to them all and highlighting their differences, it demonstrates what problems each therapy is best suited for. The principles behind the most commonly available types of psychotherapies are explained, and examples of what patients can expect when they seek such help are provided. This VSI concludes by examining the practice of psychotherapy: the types of psychotherapist training, the safeguards that exist to keep practice reliable, and how to choose a psychotherapist.Less